Is It OK to Disobey Bad Laws?

In light of the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, the subject of guns and gun laws has, naturally, come up for discussion. This is true in my personal life, as I have friends and loved ones - all very dear to me - who believe fervently in gun control. Recently a loved one and I were discussing this topic, in the context of general principles of liberty. My counterpart's argument was that we all must follow the law - even bad laws - because living in a society where people pick and choose which laws they are going to obey would result in inevitable chaos. My contention is that people are naturally good, and thus we have the natural right, if not the duty, to disobey bad laws.


Before we get further into this topic, something else deserves mention: author Harvey Silvergate makes the case that the average American commits three felonies a day, either through ignorance or intent. Whether those laws are bad laws is a matter for discussion at another time. But the point abides: our government in the US is so large, and so intrusive, that today those who would never dream of breaking the law find themselves doing so on a daily basis.

For Christians (at least, Christians in the United States), we have two documents that shape our views of government and law: The Bible and the Constitution.

The Bible, via Romans 13:1, is abundantly clear: "Submit yourselves to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1, NIV). However, this verse is clearly not an admonition to follow all laws all the time. The Old Testament is filled with stories of people (Daniel, Mordecai, Elisha, etc.) who disobeyed the law, often at their own peril. And the Christians in Rome would, within a generation or two of Paul's letter to them, find themselves at odds with Roman law and would face torture and death because of Roman law. Paul would not have dreamed of telling the Roman Christians to deny Christ in order to obey Roman law; indeed, in his letter to the Thessalonians Paul praised the Christians who were suffering for their faith yet remaining true (2 Thessalonians 1:4, NIV).

The Constitution provides a remedy for punishment for disobeying bad laws via a doctrine known as Jury Nullification. In essence, this means that a jury can find a defendant not guilty of a crime even if the facts of the case prove that he is guilty. Jury Nullification allows a juror to vote according to his or her conscience with regard to the law, and not just the law itself. The the concept is enshrined in the Constitution, in practice the courts can be hostile to it; visit here to read about cases where people have been harassed and even imprisoned for trying to inform potential jurors about their right to nullify. Jury Nullification has been used in the US many times to protect people from being punished for disobeying bad laws; as we get deeper into this article we'll look at some examples.

So now that we know that we have a precedent for disobeying bad laws, what exactly is a "bad" law? Obviously, the answer to this question will vary from individual to individual. But history provides us with some general guidelines.

1. Laws That Require Us to Victimize Other People. Ask yourself this question: If you had lived during the 1850's and you knew the whereabouts of some escaped slaves, would you have turned them in? Would you have gone a step further and assisted escaped slaves yourself? Many Northerners (and sympathetic Southerners) found themselves in court for harboring escaped slaves and/or assisting in their escape or obstructing their capture. Thankfully, the doctrine of jury nullification resulted in several acquitals for those who fought for slaves' freedom in spite of laws that made it a crime to help slaves. More recently (though not in the US), Nazi concentration camps saw their share of victims who were not Jews, but who were there for harboring, assisting, or even refusing to turn in, their Jewish neighbors. It goes without saying that no one, Christian or otherwise, should obey a law if doing so would victimize another person.

2. Laws That Victimize You For Following Them. Nobody should be required to do something which violates their own conscience. This idea seems so patently obvious that it wasn't even included in the Constitution. Yet, our law books are filled with laws that, while well-intentioned, make victims of those who follow them. For example, if the administrator of a Catholic hospital chooses not to offer his employees a health insurance plan that includes contraception coverage because of his conscientious opposition to birth control, the hospital should not be forced to do so, regardless of the law. A mother in Iowa who chooses to educate her children at home, without begging the state's approval for her proposed curriculum, should be allowed to do so, regardless of the law. A Christian's right, if not his or her duty, is to obey his or her conscience if the law is in conflict with their conscience.

3. Laws That Make a Crime Where There Is No Victim. The notion of a "victimless crime" is difficult for many people, Christians in particular, to grasp. As I've said elsewhere on this blog, what I decide to put into my body; what I decide to do with my time; and how I choose to spend my money; are no one's business but my own in light of Luke 10:27. Yet thousands of laws, specifically those relating to drugs, prostitution, gambling, liquor, homosexuality, and myriad other "moral" issues, exist simply because one person decided that they know what is best for another person, and have used government to impose their standards on others. I have made the decision to completely ignore all such laws inasmuch as I'm able to (or even care to), and instead abide by my conscience. Does doing so contribute negatively to anyone but myself?

The downside to disobeying any law is that such disobedience is likely to catch up to you. The consequences may be trivial - as in, strongly-worded letters, or vague threats, or fines; or the consequences may be severe - history is full of people who were imprisoned, or worse, for disobeying laws in obedience to their conscience. Perhaps this is what Paul is saying in Romans 13: not that disobeying the law is itself an act of disobedience toward God; but that disobeying the law is something you do at your own peril. So to disobey a bad law is to invite trouble; you can either hope a jury nullifies the law, or you can face the consequences but live with a clean conscience.

As a Christian, are you prepared to exercise your conscience and thus face the consequences? Or is it more expedient to obey the law for the sake of not bringing difficulty on yourself? Or are both valid choices? These are questions for which there are no ready answers. Ultimately, this is something that each reader will have to decide for himself.